Author: AWS Public Sector Blog Team

GÉANT, one of the world’s largest research and education networks, is making it simpler to adopt cloud services through a new procurement framework, Open Cloud for Research Environments (OCRE Cloud Framework). GÉANT selected AWS Partners Jisc and Rackspace Technology to join the OCRE Cloud Framework.

Now available to eligible nonprofits: the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Nonprofit Credit Program. The AWS Nonprofit Credit Program provides nonprofits in the United States with $2,000 in AWS Promotional Credit that can be applied toward usage fees for AWS on-demand cloud services. Whether you are working to improve the performance of donor-facing websites, enhancing data practices through managed databases and analytics, propelling research through ML, or upgrading remote monitoring with IoT, AWS can help.

With a recent feature release, Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers can now use CAC/PIV cards when using Amazon WorkSpaces to access government systems. Amazon WorkSpaces is a desktop as a service solution that helps users access all of their desktop applications from anywhere. This feature supports pre-session and in-session authentication.

It’s a new year, which means it’s the good time for students to learn new skills for their future career. AWS Educate released five new learning resources and badges to jump start learning goals for students and make it simpler for educators to teach in a virtual or blended environment. The resources focus on robotics, innovation, and Amazon Honeycode.

COVID-19 accelerated a number of rapid changes in higher education. Technology helped with continuity of education, and chief information officers (CIOs) had to overcome a number of challenges to achieve this. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and ucisa, the member-led professional body for digital practitioners in education in the United Kingdom (UK), brought together CIOs from across the UK and Europe to share and discuss their recent experiences and share lessons learned. Learn their recommendations.

On the night before Christmas, children around the world wonder when Santa is coming to town. For the 65th consecutive year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will put its world-class technology to work to keep an eye on Santa’s whereabouts. Beginning at 6:00 AM EST on December 24, families can check on Santa’s location by calling the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723). AWS is supporting NORAD by helping their volunteers answer as many calls as possible through Amazon Connect, an omnichannel cloud contact center service. By transferring calls through Amazon Connect, NORAD staff and representatives will be able to answer calls from their homes or offices, supporting those on site at the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center.

When wildfires broke out across northern and central California in August, a remote-sensing Earth observation satellite watched 381 miles (613 kilometers) above the planet’s surface. Built entirely in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), KhalifaSat captured imagery that could help governmental agencies and first responders monitor and assess the impact of the destructive blazes. To help KhalifaSat maintain continual coverage, MBRSC uses cloud services from AWS including AWS Ground Station.

Amazon FSx is now available in the AWS GovCloud (US) Regions, allowing government agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofits to scale their most sensitive file-based workloads to reduce cost and streamline operations. When customers move their NAS data and applications to AWS, they benefit from increased cost savings, improved security, and flexibility to modernize their infrastructure at their own pace. This allows organizations to focus more on the mission-critical parts of their application and driving more innovation.

Today, the government of Portugal and AWS announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement will help accelerate adoption of cloud computing in the public sector and contribute to the national Digital Transition Strategy of Portugal. Driven by the signing of the agreement, AWS launched Mais Digital Powered by AWS, an initiative that aggregates all of the activities AWS is undertaking in Portugal, to support the country’s digital transition.

Around the world, exams are administered to help students and adults further their education and advance their careers. In the US, approximately eight million high school students took a single standardized college entrance exam in 2019. As the pandemic shifted life to virtual work and learning, it also interrupted high stakes exams typically administered in person. For years, EdTechs like ExamSoft, Sumadi (part of Laureate Education), and ProctorFree have been developing remote proctoring and digital assessment solutions using the cloud.